


Miracle's Wake

by IlianaMystery



Series: Avenged [3]
Category: Fake News RPF, Gravity Falls, Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
Genre: AU, Backstory, Betrayal, Broken Heart, Cheating, Coping with Death, Curses, Demons, F/F, F/M, Family time, Heartache, PTSD, Reuniting, Revenge, Romance, backstabbing, new start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-08 06:03:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11640462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IlianaMystery/pseuds/IlianaMystery
Summary: Part Three of Avenged. It opens what Vlurgen is doing now...that she's caused a little chaos in Quadrant 4, District 9. And then goes into Mama Kaye Marie, the mother of Jessamy and Ayvah Kate, confessing her big secret. But the big news is that Alice is actually alive and well in Elysium before she is allowed to return and live her old life again...after she finds out that she's actually an angel named Miracle. But the question is will things be the same again when she goes back? Or will things be very different when she goes back?





	1. Dark Empress Vlurgen

_Yes! Yes! Yes!_   
_Chaos and despair,_   
_spread all over the multiverse_   
_Arson, murder, assault, betrayal,_   
_Oh, so sweet._   
_Turmoil and carnage,_   
_Oh, all of those wonderful things._   
_How I love them so._   
_So lovely it is,_   
_That my youth is starting to glow._

Those were the sweet words that excited me as I looked upon all of the damage and chaos that I, as well as my cohorts and goons, inflicted upon both the unsuspecting town of Middleburg as well as The Circle New York and the MPA. But the best blow was towards my stupid brother and Sir Malfus. Their defeat and agony were just wonderful to me.

That’s how I spent my days as of now; cooped up in my lair sending off Veruca and Violet to do my bidding while planning wicked plots with William, Shalone, and Lady Montague. We made a wonderful evil alliance, if I do say so myself. But now was the time for me to free myself from my imprisonment in my lair.

According to Sergey and Boris, all of the chaos and despair that both Malfus and Vladie shared brought the splendor and pageantry of Caluga back, a facade that I worked hard on and finally regained. Of course that was not the only thing that I regained. My youthful aura was restored too and I couldn’t wait for Shamael to run back to me and see me like this. But once I walked back into the inner sanctums of my palace, I came across Veruca standing against a pole with her hands crossed. I guess she was waiting for me and Sergey and Boris told her to meet me there. As soon as she saw me, she bowed down and waited for me to tap her head so she could get up and tell me what she needed to tell me.

“Pardon me, your majesty, that is if you were busy…”

“State your business.”

“The deed has been done, your darkness.”

“Yes, I saw. I’m very proud of you. You’re capable of many things…many dark and twisted things,” I cooed. “You have earned the right to call me mother.”

“May I ask why, dark mistress?”

“Oh, Veruca, you are like a daughter to me,” I assured before I stroked her face.

“But I was just created a few days ago. I was created to be the perfect female minion and soldier for you. I only wish to serve you, your majesty.”

“Yes, I know. I recycled you from a damned soul. I made you because I wanted a daughter too.

You know about my other daughter, don’t you? You know about what they did to her, don’t you?”

“Of course. You told me, mother.”

“Right. As I said, I am very proud of you. Malfus is due to crack real soon. He’s just trying to keep a straight face for his friends.”

“How are we going to manipulate him though? Even if he succumbs to his darkness, what will convince him to join us?”

“Don’t worry about that, my dear. He’s only a powerful weapon for our cause. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t join us. He’ll doom mankind just by succumbing to his dark side.”

“I understand, mother. But I did hit a roadblock.”

“What do you mean?”

“I tried to accomplish the last mission you gave me, but I failed.”

“How?”

“Delvarus’ bastard child stopped me.”

“Echo, I should have known. She must be trying to fill in for Alice. But it won’t work.”

“I don’t know, mother. He still dreams about her. She still gives him hope.”

“Well, you must reattempt your mission and give him nightmares. How hard can that be? You just murdered two people.”

“You’re right, mother. But what nightmare should I do?”

“Pose as me, sneak into his subconscious, and murder his fantasy Alice right before his eyes.”

“But I don’t know how.”

“I’ll get William to teach you. He knows how to without asking for permission.”

“Of course, mother. But I have one thought.”

“Yes?”

“I had no idea one little match made by humans could cause that much damage.”

“Humans are capable of horrible things without demon assistance. They’re the vain of the multiverse. I’ve already told you that.”

“I agree, totally. I see that now. They heard her screams and did nothing. It amazed me.”

“Doesn’t it make you wonder why Malfus, Echo, and the rest of their cohorts even try to help the humans? They can’t even help themselves. It’s a lost cause. They should all just give into their darkness.”

“I fully agree, mother.”

“Well, good. You need to report back to Shalone. File your report with her. We need to keep track of all of our chaos we’re causing.”

“Yes, mother,” she said before she bowed again and disappeared.

“Your majesty! Your majesty!” Sergey yelled while running towards me.

“What is it?!” I hissed.

“I apologize, your darkness. But Boris and I saw our Emperor approaching the palace.”

“What?! I must get ready for his arrival. Keep him entertained while I’m gone.”

“Of course, your majesty.”

After about twenty minutes of changing out dresses and jewelry and makeup, I finally went back to see my precious Shamael again. He was halfheartedly keeping a conversation with Sergey and Boris, but stopped when he saw me and ran over to hug me.

“Vlurgen…you look amazing. You look so…”

“Young? Yes, I do, darling. I missed you so. Why didn’t you come back to me sooner?”

“I don’t know. I was staying with Rayna and Jayna in Townsville after Jodi kicked me out. Now she’s seeing Sir Julious. She turned all of The Circle New York and the Underworld against me and even Ana wants nothing to do with me. But I should have come to you first.”

“Forget about them. You might have lost that crown, but you can regain the Calugian crown.”

“No kidding. This place looks amazing.”

“It runs on the misery of my stupid brother and his silly little friend.”

“Sir Malfus?”

“Precisely.”

“Yeah, he’s had some bad luck lately. I heard that his fake human wife and baby were killed in a huge apartment fire and they couldn’t find a trace of either one of them.”

“Oh, how unfortunate. Well, you’ve come just in time. I was about to give the people their souls back.”

“Splendid. I’ll actually have a living kingdom to rule again.”

“Anything for you, my precious Shamael,” I cooed before I went out to the balcony and released their souls from my amulet. Once I did so, I went back and told Shamael to get comfortable and settled in to keep him preoccupied while I spouted out false propaganda against Her Infernal Majesty.

“Sergey, Boris, get the royal trumpeters. I need to make an announcement.”

“Of course,” they both agreed.

“Attention all of Caluga! Your illustrious empress, Vlurgen, would like to make an announcement,” Boris said over the loud speaker.

“Thank you, Boris,” I moaned. “Anyway, hello. It’s so nice to see such a beautiful new day in this wonderful kingdom, is it not? Well, as your queen, it is my job to protect you from harm, and with that being said…I must inform you of a new threat…Her Infernal Majesty, Empress Jodi of the Underworld!” I yelled before Sergey pulled down the banners with her face on them.

“Yes, yes. This horrible woman stole your emperor from me. And do you know what’s worse? She’s friends with the same people who stole your princess and my precious daughter! Be aware, my fellow loyal subjects. She is the enemy. She is a menace to everything that we cherish and hold dear in this kingdom. She must be destroyed!”

The amount of anger and shouting in the crowd was overwhelming, but just the response I wanted. They all believed everything I was saying and I loved it.

“Hail Empress Vlurgen! Hail Empress Vlurgen! She will save us from the Underworld menace!”

“Yes, yes. Praise me more. I love you all. Now be on with your regularly scheduled days,” I cooed before I walked back into the palace.

“Your majesty, that was amazing,” Sergey cheered.

“Thank you, I try.”

“Also, your majesty, Shalone and William called for you.”

“Thank you, Boris. I’ll meet with them shortly. Keep Shamael occupied if need be. Tell him I had an important errand to run.”

“Will do, your majesty.”

 

Shalone started a underground anarchy party in the darkest catacombs of the Underworld where she recruited other purebloods that were angry with the way Jodi and her council were running things. We had a good amount of members in our party, which I was really excited about. It was clear to all of us that it was not just us that were displeased with Jodi or the peace loving half breeds that worked with her.

Once I got to our secret meeting ground, I noticed that the place was packed with purebloods and Shalone and William were just sitting down in their decorated and ornate chairs in the front of the assembly waiting for me to take my place. But something was out of order. There was another chair that was next to mine and it was empty. I just shook it off and went to my seat.

As soon as I did, Shalone got up and went to the mic stand before William came to readjust it for her and then returned to his seat. She took a deep breath and then started her address after the roar of applause went down.

“Yes, yes, hello again, my loyal subjects. As you all know, I am your crowned ruler of this anarchist party, Shalone. With me again are the illustrious Dark Empress Vlurgen Viore Van Winkle and the fabulous Sir William aka Bill Cipher of the Oregon Incident. We have called this meeting today to discuss the chaos that we caused within Middleburg as well as within the Circle New York and the Underworld. But we have also called this meeting to welcome another leader into our party. But I’ll let William do the honors.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” he cooed before he bowed before her and took the mic. “Yes, it is with great pleasure and honor for me to introduce and inaugurate our newest co-leader of our party. So without further ado, please welcome Lady Montague, Crowned Ruler of The Kingdom of Naaru.”

I wasn’t shocked that they were letting her into our party, and I sure wasn’t against it. I mean we were evil partners in crime and that was totally fine to me. As soon as she walked out, I started clapping the loudest and she waved and blew kisses at the audience before Shalone went back to her seat for William to inaugurate her into the party. After it was all said and done, she decided to say a couple of words of her own.

“Thank you, thank you. I feel so welcomed…although I’m different than you guys…”

“You share the same hatred of Alice, Jodi, and those goody two shoes half breeds. We couldn’t be more alike,” William cooed.

“Fair enough. I would like to let everyone know that I will be a great ally for this party. I actually double teamed with Dark Empress Vlurgen to get rid of Alice. And we succeeded. So there’s that. But anyway, thanks again for allowing me to join your party. You won’t regret this decision,” she said before she took her seat next to me. After she did, Shalone went back to the mic and started to finish her address.

“Yes, welcome to our anarchy, Lady Montague. Could everyone give her another round of applause. Good, good. I would also like to introduce two more new members that are very near and dear to my as well as Vlurgen’s nonexistent heart. Please welcome my daughter, Violet Tegan and Vlurgen’s adopted daughter, Veruca Reagan,” she announced before they both came out and waved at the audience.

“We’re so proud of both of them. Actually, Veruca just came to file a report with me just a while ago. Would you like to tell them what evil you did?”

“Sure, your majesty,” she said before she curtsied before her and went to the microphone.

“Hello, as she said, I’m Veruca Reagan Van Winkle, the new princess of Caluga and I killed Sir Malfus’ fake human family. It was one match made by humans and it set the whole place on fire. Oh, and I also have been trying to make him succumb to his dark side, but I unfortunately stopped by Delvarus’ bastard daughter.”

“Oh, boo!” one of them screamed from the audience. “I fucking hate that daughter of his.”

“Yes, she is one of the main causes of our problems,” Shalone moaned.

“I hate her too. But don’t worry. Sir William has promised to teach me how to invade the dreamscape without interference.”

“Thank you, Veruca. Isn’t she just amazing? She is. Well, so is my precious Violet. I’m such a proud mom…especially since my other two were enticed to side with our disillusioned empress. But anyway, Violet, would you like to address the assembly about your exploits for mommy?”

“Sure. Hello everyone. I’m Violet Tegan like my mother just said and I’ve been posing as an MPA agent for almost a year now. I have infiltrated all of their information and tactics which will help us once we leave the underground scene. I also broke my mother out of the second dimension through some technology that the MPA keeps secret from the rest of the multiverse. But that’s only the beginning of my exploits. Once Sir Malfus told Agent Skylar about the signal disruptor that her darkness had Sergey and Boris implant under that main surveillance desk, I took it from the drawer that Skylar put it in and gave it back to her darkness. Adair and Deondra have no idea. I also leaked the information learned to the multiversal media…and they have no idea either. But the chaos that has  
since ensued in our realm has been so amazing.”

“That it has,” I agreed before the assembly started to clap and cheer.

“Thank you, Violet. Together, Veruca and Violet will be great allies for our cause and it is very well known that they are also true to our cause. So that’s the skinny on the latest chaos that we inflicted. Is there anything else that any of the assembly would like to address?”

“Yes, actually there is one thing.”

“Go ahead, Nergal.”

“So from the information that we have gathered at this meeting and the previous three, we can all confidently say that our main threats other than our disillusioned empress…is Sir Malfus and Princess Echo, right?”

“Yes and no,” Violet answered.

“What do you mean, princess?”

“What I mean is that…yes, Sir Malfus and Princess Echo are threats to our cause…but it is not just them. We should be worried about all of The Circle New York.”

“What? Are you talking about Malfus’ servant boys and Lezazu’s more well known children?”

“Precisely. They are a threat as well.”

“I find that had to believe,” another scoffed.

“And how so, Sonja?” Violet asked.

“I thought that they were divided because of what Sir Malfus did. There’s no way that they’ll be able to work together to stop us. They’ve been a broken group ever since one single drop of blood was shed of that stupid, foolish human that even wasted his time with them.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that, but Lady Ayvah Kate Siciliano as well as Echo and our empress are trying to fix all of the problems and dents in their group. They’ve actually started to work together now.”

“What?!” Shalone shrieked. “No, this can’t be true. Tell me that it’s not true!”

“Unfortunately, it is, mother.”

“Okay…okay…fine, this is just a minor setback. Not to worry.”

“This is horrible, your majesty,” Sonja moaned. “We must stop them from reuniting.”

“Don’t worry,” Veruca insisted. “I’ll be your savior. I’ll do everything in my power to weaken their defenses starting with Echo and Malfus.”

“And so will I,” Violet agreed.

“Good, let’s nip that in the bud. I want my takeover of the Underworld to go smoothly. I believe that the future of our new order is not only in my colleagues’ hands but also in the hands of these wonderful girls. We must do everything in our power to dethrone Jodi and restore order in the Underworld.”

“Yeah! And let’s banish those human loving, pacifist half breeds!” Nergal yelled.

“No, they already claimed residency in either New York or Townsville. I have a better idea. How about we make them our slaves?”

“Brilliant idea, Sonja,” Shalone cooed. “I like the way you think. But yes, we are all very sick of the way that Jodi’s been running things. And her and those half breeds have been making us purebloods look bad. We’re not supposed to be helping and entertaining the humans, we’re supposed to be making their lives miserable. That’s the part we play in the multiverse. We’re the con artist, the troublemakers, the murderers, the criminals, and no one should be allowed to overthrow the status quo!”

“Yeah!” the crowd all cheered.

“I call dibs on Princess Echo,” I added. “She’ll make a good slave.”

“I call Sir Malfus. I hate that bastard and I would love to personally make his life more shitty than it already is,” Lady Montague added.

“Yes, yes, we’ll all have our pick once we defeat them,” Shalone promised.

“I have a question, your majesty.”

“Go ahead, Meena.”

“Thank you, your majesty. How will we convince Sir Malfus to join our cause once he succumbs to his dark side? He is just as stubborn as Tiberius.”

“Good question. Would you like to answer that, Vlurgen?”

“Sure thing, Shalone. Meena, sweetie, it doesn’t matter if he joins our cause or not. He can refuse out of all of his might, but by succumbing to his dark side…he will simultaneously join our cause without really knowing. What many of you might not know is that Malfus isn’t a real half breed…but here me out…his mother, late Dame Padma was actually a half breed herself and she knew that, Tiberius knew that, and even Malfus knows that. Her biological father was a demon in disguise posing as a worker for the British India Company. His mother didn’t inherit any demon powers though, she had a mutation in the womb and she ended up being born completely human. But her father’s powers were carried in her genes and given to Malfus. Tiberius can’t see the future like Malfus can and also can’t read minds…but Padma’s biological father could…and funny story, Padma’s biological father is Lucifer and Viore’s much older lost brother, Beezalbub. So because of that, he is the most powerful half breed in existence and since he is the grandson and great nephew of the trifecta of evilness and corruption, he has powers that surpass even my own. He’s his grandfather reincarnate.”

“So are you saying that Sir Malfus is your second cousin and he’s the reincarnation of Beezelbub?” Veruca asked.

“Yes, yes he is. I hate admitting that…but yes, we’re family unfortunately. I know his true potential and that’s why I want him to succumb. Because if he does, he could annihilate the whole human race and the Earth.”

“Whoa, the more you know,” Meena moaned. “Thank you for answering my question, dark empress.”

“Of course.”

“Okay, so I think we covered all of the important points we need to cover for this meeting. So I guess this meeting is adjourned,” Shalone insisted.

“Thank you so much for inviting me again,” Lady Montague chirped after the assembly left.

“Oh, no problem, Montie,” William answered back. “You’ll make a great ally.”

“Yes, well, I better go. I want to see my precious Xander again. He better be home too. He’s seen Ayvah enough recently.”

“Well, alright girl, take care,” I said before she disappeared.

“Another successful meeting,” William remarked. “Except for that little bombshell.”

“Yeah, I had no idea you were related to Malfus.”

“It’s something neither one of us is very proud of. We like not to mention that, Shalone.”

“I see why. But also, Violet, why didn’t you tell me that they were starting to reunite?”

“I didn’t know how to break it to you, mother.”

“Well, at least I know now. But that means both of you have to be on your toes even more now. We don’t need them reuniting and foiling our plans, got that?”

“Of course, mother.”

“Well, let’s be on our way, Veruca. You still have to meet your new father.”

“New father?”

“Yes, well, I’ll see you guys later. I miss my Shamael and I want to see him again.”

“Well, alright. Go see your man, girl. William and I will tell you when our next meeting will be.”

“Of course. Ta ta, darlings!” I chirped before Veruca and I disappeared.

 

Back at the palace. Sergey and Boris greeted us at the front gate and told me that Shamael was waiting for me to come back in the study. So we both went to find him looking over a couple of papers and a book and it looked like he went through some other books since they were all stacked up in front of him. He looked over at us suddenly and smiled before he ran over to hug and kiss me again. Then he looked at Veruca and she looked back at him with a small smirk on her face.

“Hello, your majesty,” she said before she curtsied.

“Um, hello.”

“This is Veruca, she’s my new daughter…she’s our new daughter.”

“What about Xiomara?”

“Oh, Shamael, I didn’t forget about her. But we need a princess…and Veruca fits the bill. She’s a wonderful daughter. I recreated her from a damned soul. I just want you to get to know her.”

“Oh, okay. I guess I can. Hello again, I’m Shamael Nazar Foster, son of Dark Lord and former Emperor Lucifer and former Empress Shanti Marie Foster.”

“Nice to meet you, father. My full name is Veruca Reagan Van Winkle.”

“It’s Foster now. That’s your new last name.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Well, let me just say that I’m pleased to have you, Veruca. Your mother treasures you. And I can’t wait to learn more about you.”

“I can’t wait to learn more about you too, father,” she assured before she hugged him.

“Welcome to our family.”

“I think I’m gonna go look around the kingdom if you don’t mind, mother.”

“Go ahead,” I insisted.

“Thank you,” she answered back before she left.

“So what were you doing and where were you?”

“I just had to attend to some business, is all. But again, welcome back to Caluga. Your people will accept you back with open arms.”

“Thank you, Vlurgie. I love you so much.”

“Oh, I love you too,” I assured before I kissed him.

“So you created Veruca out of another soul?”

“Yes, I did. It cost someone, but I profited from it.”

“I see. Well, she seems like a wonderful daughter.”

“Oh, she is. She’s so respectful and listens. She’s like the perfect daughter.”

“Speaking of which, how is our little girl doing?”

“Oh, she’s fine, I promise. I visit her in her dreamscape just about every night.”

“Well, good. I’m glad you get to see her again.”

“Oh, Shamael, don’t fret. She’ll be back home when the time is right. I promise.”

“I know. I trust you, Vlurgie.”

“Oh, Shamael. You always know what to say. I think we should renew our vows, but we can consecrate our repaired union tonight, if you catch my drift.”

“Oooh, okay. I would like that very much.”

“Oh, I know. I know.”


	2. Mama Kaye Marie Stewart

_Jessamy was on to me._

I knew she was. I mean I made it very obvious that I was trying to hide something from her. And it didn’t help that I was wearing a robe over my negligee instead of my usual dress when she came. But in my defense, she usually told me when she was going to come over, but she just decided to come and surprise me that day. I mean I loved whenever I could see her, she was my oldest daughter and Ayvah never came to visit me so I cherished Jessamy’s visits but I just liked to be told in advance.

_But truth be told, I did have a secret._

It was a secret that slept by my side every night and a secret that I cherished ever since I first came in contact with it. It was a secret that was beloved by all of my beloved stepchildren and Jessamy alike. It was a secret that had to be kept a secret for the sake of the war that was coming. And I had to guard that with my eternal, blessed Elysian life.

_The truth was I was hiding Stewart and no one could know…well not yet anyway._

But that was just the skinny of the situation. We were actually a couple too and it helped that Jacob was posing as him now, so it kinda gave him a clean slate. And although marriage isn’t really a thing here, I took his stage last name too. But we were happy in our current situation. I actually remember when I was assigned to look after him. Lady Michelle thought I would be perfect because of my relationship with both Jessamy and my other step kids. And I mean I was psyched. I wanted to know what the fuss was because they would always talk about how wonderful he was…well at least Ty would mostly. Then I actually met him and we instantly hit it off. One thing became another and next thing we knew, we became a common law couple within a Earth year.

But I hated having to keep this from Jessamy. I wanted to brag about how happy I was with him and tell her to tell Ty that he was right about what he was telling me about him…but I couldn’t. None of them could know what I was doing and that he was here. And that hurt me on an emotional level. Of course, he would always notice that it bothered me, but I would always lie and say that I was okay. So this morning was not much different. I woke up feeling a little dizzy, so I held my head and looked around to find that he was nowhere in our room. I was confused, until I caught a whiff of the smell of breakfast. I was gonna get up, until I heard his footsteps coming closer to me. So I just threw the comforter over my head and pretended like I was still sleeping.

“Good morning, Kaye!” he yelled. “Wait, I just heard you move. You’re not sleeping. You’re faking! Is my precious Kaye pretending to be asleep?” he joked before he threw the comforter off of me.

“Okay, fine. You still want to pretend to be asleep…fine by me, I guess I’ll just have these blueberry pancakes and kale bacon all to myself.”

“No! Give me!” I begged after I jumped upright in bed.

“That’s what I thought. Good morning, Kaye. I made your favorite.”

“Good morning, honey. Thanks, but I like anything you make.”

“Well, thank you. That really flattered me,” he giggled before he handed me my plate and tray.

“Wow, even the display is nice…it’s almost too pretty to eat…almost. What are you not good at?”

“That’s for me to know, and for you to never find out.”

“Fair enough. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“Lady Michelle meddled in there a little bit by ‘assigning’ me to you.”

“True. True.”

“Oh no. I forgot your juice. I’ll be back in a second.”

“I mean I could just get…it…” I moaned before he ran back in with a glass of cranberry juice.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. So is everything okay up in the dreamscape?” he asked before he sat by my side on the bed.

“What makes you ask?”

“You talk in your sleep. I don’t mind though. But I was just a little concerned last night.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I promise.”

“It is definitely something. You can tell me.”

“It’s just…it’s just I hate keeping us a secret.”

“Huh?”

“You know how Jessamy came the other day by surprise?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I think she’s on to me. I hate having to hide anything from her. I mean she’s my daughter and I want to be honest with her. I want them to know, but I have to stay mute. I hate it too because I know how happy they would be to know that you’re happy and safe with me. They really miss you. Jessamy tells me that all of the time and it’s a shame that she can’t even know that the house that she’s standing in is the same house you’re living in.”

“Well, I know it’s hard, but we have to stay low profile right now. When the time is right, we’ll be able to tell them,” he assured before he squeezed my shoulders.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just hate keeping secrets,” I moaned while picking at the last piece of pancake I had left with my fork. “This is really good, by the way. Not that I’m surprised.”

“Well, thank you, Madame Kaye,” he teased before he side hugged me. Then he started tickling me and I had a fit.

“Stop it! Stop it! I said stop it, Jonathan! You know I’m deathly ticklish.”

“Yeah, that’s the point.”

“I hate you.”

“You know you don’t mean that.”

“I don’t. It just felt appropriate. I love you dearly.”

“I love you too, Katherine Marie.”

“Oh you,” I teased before I kissed him. Apparently, I turned him on because he quickly clutched on me trying to prolong our embrace and kiss. As soon as I felt him feeling on me, I knew he wanted a little morning quickie, so I pushed him away so I could put up my dishes and get it over with.

“No, no, don’t you even lift a finger. I’ll grab the dishes and I’ll be right back. And when I get back, I don’t want to see that negligee on you anymore.”

“Oh, okay,” I cooed before he left. As soon as he came back in, I noticed that his grey shirt (he was only wearing that and a pair of boxers) was gone so I just assumed he threw it off somewhere in the kitchen.

“Aren’t you still wearing something, mister?”

“Oh, yeah. You’re right,” he said before he took them off. I always bit my lip when I saw his manhood. I mean he was bigger than Lezazu, but I was getting used to the size difference since we had sex like 6 to 7 times a day…but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t still amazed by the difference. And what I loved was that he took me places that Lezazu never did. He was just that good. But then again, there weren’t many things that he was actually bad at.

“You okay?” he asked once he jumped back on his side of the bed by me.

“Yeah, I am,” I moaned.

“Oh, Kaye, don’t worry. You know I always make sure that you’re taken care of while we’re having sex. I mean if you don’t want to…”

“No, no. I’m always like this. I want to.”

“Well, okay…” he moaned before he grabbed me and started kissing me again. I giggled in between stolen kisses which made him smile and snicker to himself too. “Feel better?”

“I’m starting to. The lube’s in your nightstand drawer.”

“Right. Thanks for reminding me.”

“Oh, I wasn’t gonna let you get that far without it.”

“Well, of course, I don’t want to hurt you,” he assured before he took the bottle out. “I just want to pleasure my beautiful new wife.”

“Of course,” I chirped while I was waiting for him to make the next move. He lathered some on himself first and I noticed that his cock twitched from the attention and was now standing proudly just waiting for my attention. Then he looked over at me and instructed me to relax my muscles and spread my legs as far as I possibly could. So I did and he put his arm around me lifting me up a little before he told me to also close my eyes. So I did and he ended up plunging one of his lubed up fingers into my heat. I gasped and moaned under his sudden control, but that was only the beginning. He started to rub against and tease my clit before he started sucking on my right breast at the same time. Soon enough, one finger became two and then three, all simultaneously stroking my throbbing clit before moving further to open me up more.

Suddenly, all of these pleasurable sensations just stopped all at once and I opened my eyes to see him towering over me, flashing his blue eyes at me before he put a smirk on his face. I just giggled and put my arms around his neck before he kissed me hard. Both of his arms found my backside before I felt him brush past my opening. I sighed into his kiss once he did that and wrapped my legs around his own legs and ass before he fully entered me and then hit me with the deep stroke. I would always twitch when he did that, but he would usually counteract that with embracing me tighter and sucking on my neck. Truth be told, he learned very quickly what turned me on and made me feel comfortable during our many love making sessions. It was a little awkward though since my communicator started going off, which never really happened during times like this…but I digress.

“Is that for you?” he asked.

“Yeah, it is. Don’t worry about it. I’ll check it after we’re done,” I sighed. “It’s probably just Jessamy.”

“Okay.”

After we finished, I immediately picked up my communicator to see what Jessamy was up to. Meanwhile, he was still holding on to me tightly and perched his head on my shoulder humming something in my ear. I just giggled and saw that one it was Jessamy but two, it was three different picture messages and a text message. I opened the text message and it said,

**_Hey Mama Kaye, I have the best news. Ayvah and Xander just got engaged! She just told me, Ty, and Satanya and she just relayed the message to Malfus. Yeah, he was excited mostly because he kinda had a role to play in the fact that they even met. But anyway, we’re all hanging out here for the weekend (I mean we’re crashing at Malf’s place) and Ty even wanted to announce their engagement on the show. We’re actually at the taping of Monday’s show right now._ **

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Were you reading it too, honey?”

“Yeah, I kinda was. That’s wonderful news. I can only imagine how happy John and Stephen are right now.”

“Well, technically we don’t have to imagine, she did send me a couple of picture messages.”

“Let’s open them up and see then.”

The first picture she sent was all of them at the taping of Monday’s show. Xander was in a human disguise and Ayvah hid her goat horns and pointy ears in the picture. Within in the same message though was another picture and it was Xander playing alongside Stephen’s show band. I moved on to the next picture message and saw that it was Malfus with his arms around both Ayvah and Xander with all of his teeth out. It looked like they were at his favorite diner (from what Jessamy told me). The next picture in the same message was Ty with his arm around Xander like he was talking to him and Ayvah was on his other side holding her laugh in with her hand. Then the last picture was all of them gawking over the happy couple while standing on the corner of them.

“Wow, I’m so happy for her. She deserves all of the happiness in the multiverse.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I can’t wait to meet her one day. She sounds amazing…but then again Jessamy is her sister and she’s amazing too.”

“From what Jess told me, though, Ayvah always compares herself to her siblings. She sees them all over the multiversal media and they’re praised and she feels like people only really like her because she’s being raised by Lady Michelle and Lord Gabriel. She thinks she’s nothing compared to them. And I don’t think that’s true. I know I died after she was born, but I knew and still know that she’s special. She just doesn’t realize that yet.”

“Well, she will one day. Don’t worry about it, Kaye. She’s already doing wonderful things. From what I can see, she stopped those two from fighting about my fate. Look how happy both of them are. She’s empowering their group without even really knowing it. And that’s all I want for both of them. I just want them to be happy. I wish John knew that I forgave him for what he did. But it is what it is.”

“Oh, Jon, everything will work out. I know it will. Well, we better get ready for the day. I know I’m forgetting something but I don’t know…what…” But before I even finished my sentence, he had went into our bathroom to start our shower water.

“Okay, come on in. The water’s fine.”

“Oh, you,” I giggled before I went in to join him.

After our shower, I threw on my regal white Elysian gown while Jon threw one of his white t-shirts and white pants. Then the doorbell rang and I ran to answer it. Lady Michelle was on the other side and she was flashing her bright smile once I opened the door. She kept on messing with her big curly brunette hair and she had an envelope in her other hand.

“Sorry. I know this isn’t very polite…me messing in my hair and all, but I think I’m having a bad hair day…which is horrible since our monthly tea party is today. But anyway, I wanted to give you this,” she said before she handed me the envelope.

“Thank you.”

“It’s Ayvah and Xander’s official engagement pictures. They just got engaged a couple of days ago. Now, as custom in our realm, their engagement will last 15 years but I’m sure they’ll be able to withstand that.”

“Oh, wonderful. I wanted some new pictures of Ayvah to put up. Thank you. But our monthly tea party is today?”

“Yes, of course, did you forget?”

“I guess so.”

“Oh, that’s fine. Well, I’ll give you two hours to prep. I’m sure Jon will be a big help though. Is there anything that man isn’t good at?”

“No, there isn’t…well as far as I know.”

“Fair enough. I’m gonna go tend to my hair and I’ll be back in two hours with the girls.”

“Sounds like a plan, Lady Michelle. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” she said before I closed the door behind her.

“Who was that? Lady Michelle?”

“Yeah, it was. She was giving me Ayvah and Xander’s engagement photos. She also reminded me that we have our monthly tea party today and I haven’t prepped.”

“Oh, not to worry, I stole some of Carol’s tea party finger food recipes.”

“Who’s Carol?”

“John’s host mother.”

“Right. Well, I usually just follow Padma’s recipes,” I said before the doorbell rang again. And it was Padma on the other side. She was already wearing her party garb: a long and elegant flowing white dress with long flowing long sleeves and she had her long raven hair up in the bun and covered it up with a long white head drape that was decorate with gold encrusted ornate on the edge. And she had a gold encrusted belt around her waist. But the gold accents made her hazel eyes sparkle.

“Hello Padma!” I cheered before I hugged her. “We were just talking about you.”

“We?” she asked in her thick Londoners accent. “Oh, hey Stewart.”

“Hey Padma.”

“You look amazing.”

“Oh, thank you, Kaye. You look amazing too.”

“What brings you here? You’re early.”

“Oh, call it intuition but I wanted to help out with prep for our event. Well, it was intuition since Arjuna got all of my father’s supernatural powers.”

“Right. Well thanks for offering to help. But you know Jon wants to take control of everything.”

“Fair enough. I know how that is. Tiberius was the same way. I’ll stay out of his way enough,” she assured before we both walked into the kitchen to help out. “So what are you up to?”

“I’m following some of Carol’s recipes.”

“Carol? As in my baby’s host mother?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, that’s what I thought,” she moaned before she picked up one of the knifes on the countertop and threw it against the wall. “That no good motherfucking bitch! How dare she treat my child like that! Her and her son of a bitch husband. I can’t stand though fucking assholes!” she screamed before she picked up a glass and broke it in her hand. “My son is fucking perfect! And he deserves all of the respect in the whole entire fucking universe! My precious Arjuna deserves love!!!!”

“Um, are you okay?” Jon asked.

“Sorry, I need a moment,” she insisted before she ran into the bathroom crying.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“I forgot to tell you to never mention Carol or Jim around her. She doesn’t really like them because of the way they used to treat Malfus. She’s very protective of him because of how unstable he is.”

“Oh, I see. She’s just being a good mother.”

“I guess,” I moaned before I went to the bathroom door and knocked. “Padma, are you okay in there?” She didn’t answer me back. Instead, I heard her singing in Latin although I could hear her still sniffling. “Padma?” She still didn’t answer and started singing louder although her crying muffled it out more.

“Oh, Arjuna. How I miss and love you,” she whimpered.

“Padma?”

“It’s unlocked,” she whined. Once I opened the door, I noticed that she was sitting on the floor with her knees bent and she was crying so much that is smudged her makeup. She kept wiping away her tears with her self harmed hand that was still bleeding out (it was crystal clear instead of red since we’re Elysian souls). But then I noticed that there was a picture on the floor next to her. I looked over to see what the picture was and picked it up to find that it was Padma hugging a then adolescent Malfus and then I flipped it over to see that she taped another picture to the back and I assumed it was taken after the one on the front since she had her hand on his shoulder and they were looking at each other and smiling.

“I have a note that goes with that,” she moaned before she took it out of her bra and handed it to me. “It’s in Latin but I translated it on the back already.”

I opened it up and it read:

_**My Sweet Precious Arjuna,** _

_**It’s so hard for me to say this, but I wanted to tell you what was going on so you never had to wonder. You see, I was never supposed to be here. I didn’t belong here in the Underworld. I had to make a deal with your father to save my brother cousin. I made that sacrifice for him. But long story short, I have to go home now. No, I’m not going back to India and I’m not moving to England…I’m not going to any of those places. I’m going to Elysium and unfortunately, you can’t follow me. I have to endure this alone and you have to take on the rest of your eternity alone now too. But I know you can do it. I believe in you. I know you’re destined for greatness, Arjuna. You’ll do amazing things for people that you’ve never met yet. I want you to follow your heart and stay steadfast in the time of trouble. Never give up the fight and remember to never let your darkness win. Keep that light that you have burning and be that light for everyone you meet.** _

_**I love you so much. Never forget how much I love you. And always remember that I’ll always be with you in spirit and I’ll never leave your side. Stay strong, my son…until we meet again.** _

_**Love always,** _  
_**Dame Padma Ila Avanti Bakshi-de Olivier** _

“I gave a copy of this note to Arjuna. I left it on his nightstand while he was sleeping. Then I went into my mediation reluctantly just waiting for my call home. I remember it like it happened yesterday. It was so hard watching him grow up from the comforts of Elysium. I wanted to be there with him every step of the way. But I couldn’t. I hated that I had to watch those horrible people raise my son the way that they did. They still treat him like he’s nothing and I hate that. He deserves respect and love. I mean I’m glad that he overcame all of his obstacles and he’s successful now, but I just want to be there. That’s what I loved about Alice. She gave him love and compassion and loved him for who he was. She kept him levelheaded and made sure he was always heard and taken care of. I’m sad that she can’t be with him. He needs her now more than ever.”

“I agree. But it’ll be okay, Padma. I know it’s hard to see someone else raise your child. I know it’s hard to watch them suffer and be unable to help them. But Malfus will be okay. He’s very resilient and he always overcomes his demons, quite literally. This is just another storm that he’ll overcome. I have that much faith in him.”

“You’re right, Kaye. I mean he does get his temperament and anger from me and his stubbornness from Tiberius. He is a strong man and I should have more faith in him.”

“That’s the spirit. Are you okay, though? You were bleeding an awful lot.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. This isn’t the first time I broke a glass with my hand.”

“Well, okay. Do you think you’re ready to go back to the kitchen and help out Jon?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Well, let’s wrap up your hand first.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

As soon as we walked out of the bathroom, the smell of both tea and baked goods hit us. We went to the kitchen soon after catching a whiff and saw that Jon was taking something else out of the oven and there platters of sweets decorating the countertop and all four of my tea kettles were on the burners. He didn’t even notice we were back in the room at first, instead he threw the towel he used to take the pan out of the oven over his shoulder and was still humming something while kinda dancing.

“Wow, you made all of this in an hour?” Padma asked.

“Yep, sure did. Oh, good, you wrapped up your hand. That was a pretty bad cut.”

“Yeah, I did. Kaye calmed me down.”

“Oh, okay. Well, sorry for triggering that.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” she assured before she hugged him. “I can’t stay mad at you. Besides, I should be thankful for you. You really were an inspiration for Arjuna and he admires you so much. I appreciate that you always tried to look out for him.”

“Oh, no problem, dame. He’s an amazing guy. I miss him. I just wish he knew that I forgave him.”

“Oh, he’ll find out eventually. So I take it you don’t need help, huh?”

“Not really. I basically got everything. Actually, Kaye, why don’t you tell Padma about Ayvah’s news?”

“Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me. Come with me to the den.”

“Okay.”

“So Ayvah and Xander finally got engaged,” I announced after we sat down. “Lady Michelle dropped off their engagement photos. I didn’t open it yet though.”

“Oh, well open it now. I can’t wait to see them.”

“Okay, let’s do it,” I chirped before I ripped the envelope open and took the pictures out.

"Aww. Look at them. They're so cute. Do you think Arjuna had a say in their pictures?”

“Probably. You know he was their matchmaker. He’s probably on cloud 9 right now.”

“Oh, well at least he has something else to be happy about.”

“Jessamy told me about how Alice even became a part of their group. Truth be told, they all cherished her company,” I insisted before I picked up another picture of Alice and the rest of them.

“I can see that. They all really miss her, I bet.”

“The funny thing is that John always knew about Alice.”

“What do you mean, Jon?”

“I know what he means, Kaye. But I’ll let him explain.”

“He always used to talk about this mysterious woman he would see in his dreams every night. didn’t know her name, but he described her as a beautiful, tempting entity. Eventually, he put a name to the face he saw once he got a hold of the records of viewers that watched The Daily Show. He learned that her name was Toni Collette Rodgers and she lived in Olympia, Delaware. It was then that he instantly did everything in his power to make sure she was entertained and that he always put a smile on her face even if she didn’t know his intentions. Many would think that he was just being creepy, but I knew he was just smitten by her although they never met.”

“Oh, my poor lovesick Arjuna. He always loved and treasured Alice. It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen or heard.”

“Mireille needs to come back,” I assured before I started to wipe my crying eyes. "They need her."

“Mireille?”

“You know, it means miracle in French. That’s Alice’s real name. She’s really an Elysian soul.”

“Wow, the more you know,” Jon moaned. “Well, everything’s done for when they come.”

“Oh, thank you, honey!” I chirped before I jumped up and ran to hug and kiss him.

“Oh, no problem. It’s my job to be perfect.”

“Don’t push your luck, Jonathan.”

The doorbell rang again soon after and Lady Michelle was there with Mama Rose (Alice’s mother), Queen Joy, and Princess Echo.

“Hello, see my hair looks much better, Kaye.”

“I can see that, Lady Michelle.”

“I fixed her up, actually,” Echo added.

“That she did. Can we come in?”

“Yes, sure,” I assured before Padma and I moved out of the way.

“Mmmm. that smells delightful,” Queen Joy observed. “You must have been rushing to bake and get everything ready.”

“Funny story…actually…”

“Stewart did everything, huh?” Echo asked.

“Yes, he sure did.”

“Oh my. That man is more angelic than us actual angels,” Rose giggled. “Oh my gosh, Padma! Are you okay?”

“Oh, this. Tis only a scratch.”

“That’s not just a scratch. What happened?”

“I had a trigger…broke a glass in my hand.”

“Was this about Arjuna’s host parents again?”

“Yes, it was, Rose.”

“Oh, Padma,” Rose said before she went to hug her. “It’s okay. Arjuna is a very resilient man. He always pulls through no matter what human life throws at him.”

“But you know that your daughter was his rock. And now she’s gone.”

“I know, I know. But he’ll pull through. Mireille will return. She’s not dead…she’s asleep.”

“Where is Stewart anyway?” Lady Michelle asked.

“Probably still in the kitchen.”

“Well, I want to invite him to sit with us. He went through all of this trouble, it would be rude not to,” she insisted before she walked into the kitchen with us following behind her. He was actually not in the kitchen, but in the adjacent dining room putting the final pastry plate he did on the table. He was still humming something and dancing to himself and didn’t even notice that we were watching him until I started to giggle.

“Oh, hey…I mean greetings, ladies. Your tea party is ready.”

“Wow, you outdid yourself this time,” Rose observed before she just went into a trance like state.

“Now I see what the fuss is about, Stewart,” Echo teased. “I see why my friends think you’re amazing.”

“It took me making all of this happen in an hour and thirty minutes for you to see how amazing I am, Echo? I thought you already knew how amazing I was. I mean I’m sure Stephen drowns your ears in stories about how amazing I am…that is, if John doesn’t beat him to it.”

“Samantha does it too, truth be told. She just acts like she’s above that. But yes, now I’m convinced.”

“I can’t believe you did all of this!” I chirped. “Oh, baby, thank you. You’ve been such a big help. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Probably sulk around like my friends,” Echo moaned.

“Don’t be like that, Echo,” Queen Joy scolded.

“No problem, Kaye. I’d do anything for my perfect wife,” he teased before he tickled me.

“Stop it, Jonathan. Not right now. But I will give you a special treat tonight.”

“Well, I can’t wait,” he assured before he hugged me from behind and kissed my neck.

“Oh my gosh. Stop spoiling me. Not in front of our guests.”

“Wow, I can’t wait until my friends find out that you two are an item,” Echo moaned.

“Yes, well, enough of all of that. Jon, sweetie, I was wondering if you wanted to stay and sit with us. It only seems fair since you slaved over a hot stove for us. And it seems like you want to spend some more time with Kaye instead of being locked in your room…but let’s keep in PG if you stay.”

“Sure, I could do that,” he insisted before he let go of me and put his hands out. “And I would love to stay. It beats waiting for the leftovers that I made myself.”

“I have a question for you then,” Echo started before we all took a seat.

“Fire away.”

“Were you this intimate with Ty like he claims? Because that would be an interesting picture to keep in my head for the rest of my eternity. And do you even miss Tracey? Do you mind that a 25 year old guy named Jacob is posing as you and basically sleeping with your old wife?”

“Echo Penelope Theodosia Seville! What has gotten into you?! Stop this at once!”

“Joy, your majesty, it’s alright. She’s just curious. It’s fine. I’ve had to sit through multiple interviews with the real Lucifer, Bill O’Reilly before. I can handle this. This is child’s play.”

“I don’t mean anything out of this, mother. I am just curious. Besides, Stewart knows I have mad love and respect for him.”

“That I do, that I do. Echo’s cool. I don’t mind her at all. But to answer your question…yes, I was. I’m not gonna lie, Stephen was a very amazing lover…so whatever he told you is probably true.”

“Wow, no wonder all of those fangirls that are friends with Alice write those raunchy fanfictions about you two.”

“You never read any of those, have you?”

“I might have read a couple, Jonathan. And something tells me that some of those fangirls are actually Ty in disguise. It just seems a little bit too much on the nose for just a passing fangirl.”

“You can’t prove that, Kaye.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’ve know Ty much longer than you have. He’s my stepson, I know him very well.”

“Well, this is awkward,” Echo moaned to herself.

“Okay, moving on, to answer the rest of your question, Echo, I do miss Tracey. I loved her dearly, but this is my new life and I’m glad that I have Kaye in it now too. And as for Jacob, well I hope he enjoys all of it. I mean he was a super fan, so I’m sure he’s enjoying it.”

“That’s a great attitude to have,” Rose clapped.

“Why are you two so cute?” Padma asked.

“We just are. You are lucky to have me, Jon. I’m perfection.”

“Yes, yes you are, honey. But we have to keep it PG."

“Whatever, Jonathan.”

“Are you done now, Echo?”

“Yes, I am, mother.”

“Good, now, where do we begin. Everything looks so tasty and delightful.”

"Take your pick," Jon insisted.

"I really don't know where to begin though..."

"Start with a scone, mother. They are your favorite," Echo suggested.

"Hmmm, don't mind if I do," Joy chirped.

"Have you gotten to see Alice again yet?" Padma asked Rose.

"No, not yet. I think she's still in limbo right now."

"Really? But it's been two weeks now," I interjected.

"Limbo is weird sometimes. That was how long I was in limbo myself. But that was years ago," Rose assured.

"I'm sure you're happy to see her again," Joy said.

"Oh, you know it. I missed my daughter. But she can't stay here. She has a family that needs her."

"Rose, at least spend some time with her while she's here in Elysium."

"You know I will, Padma. I'm longing to hug her again."

"I bet. It has been 16 years now."

"Unfortunately, I'm aware."

"Well, we're behind you one hundred percent when you get to see her again."

"Thank you, Echo. I really appreciate that. It just hurt to see everyone I loved mourning for her loss like they did when I died. It was just so sad..."

"It won't be so sad for long, Rose. I promise you that," Joy insisted.

"Thank you, Joy."

"Well, Kaye has some good news. Don't you, Kaye?"

"Oh, right. Rose doesn't know. Rose, Ayvah and Xander are engaged now."

"Oh, really? That's wonderful. I'm so happy for them."

"All of Elysium is rejoicing for them," Lady Michelle said.

"I bet. They're both wonderful people. They deserve all the happiness in the world."

"Agreed," we all said.

"Jon, you have really outdone yourself," Joy said. "These delicacies are quite delicious."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome. We're all very impressed."

"Yes, we need to get you to cook and bake more often," Lady Michelle said.

"Thank you, thank you. You're gonna give me a big head."

"You already have a big head, baby," I mocked.

"Guilty as charged," he said before we all laughed.

"Rose, you might want to head back to your place," Echo started.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"It's Miracle. She's here...in Elysium...right now."


	3. Mama Rose Ziegler

As soon as Echo said those words, my Elysian heart fluttered and jumped in my chest. I couldn't believe it. I finally had the chance to see my precious daughter again...and after 16 years no less. But I didn't leave until it was all over. Echo was surprised...well I guess all of them were surprised but I didn't want to be rude. It wasn't like me to be like that.

But then I thought I needed to be with my daughter again. She was probably really scared and confused about what was going on. I mean limbo was scary enough as it was, but now she was in Elysium and it was much different than Earth. It was a utopia, something she wasn't familiar with yet.

As I reached the door to my home, I felt her presence over take me and it overwhelmed me a little. I opened the door to be almost blinded by the light coming from her and it made me realize again what I already knew.

_She was an angel and that meant that her light was more overwhelming than mine._

But no matter, I walked further into the house and noticed that she was sitting in the middle of my couch in the living room. Her hands were over her face and it seemed like she was crying. Her glasses were set on the table and her skin was glowing bright white, adorned in white cloth to cover her. She was a beautiful creature and I was so happy to see her again, but I did feel bad for her. She WAS scared and lost...and it broke my heart.

I went up to her and placed my hand on her shoulder, before she slowly started to pick up her head. As soon as she locked eyes with me, she faked a smile and threw her arms around me in a hug. I held her close and I could tell that she was still crying against my shoulder. I rubbed her back, but she was still crying her poor eyes out. She started to let go eventually and she just looked at me again, crystal tears coating her eyes. She wanted to say something, but no words were coming out. So I decided to speak first.

"Toni, my sweet angel, it's okay. I know you're hurt...I know you're scared, but you're safe here. I'm here...right now...for you."

"Mama, I...I...I hurt so much..." she moaned.

"Where do you hurt?" I asked her.

"My body...it feels weak...numb...I feel different...and my back aches. What happened to me?" she cried.

"You don't remember what happened?"

"No, everything went black when I shut my eyes...next thing I knew I was in an abyss of darkness...in agonizing pain. I want the pain to stop. I want the pain to stop," she cried once more.

So that was the truth. She was crying because she was in pain. But how did she forget how she died? I still remember how I died. Actually, now that I think about it, trees still kinda freak me out. But anyway, I needed to jog her memory because I feared that if she forgot that minute (my-noot) detail, she might have forgotten about her old life too. Like a freak reset or something.

"Toni, it's okay. I know you're in pain...but I'm hear for you. You just have to believe that."

"I just want to stop suffering."

"I know, I know. I have something that might help," I said before I assisted her back to the sofa. I headed to the kitchen and rummaged through my cabinets and found a good remedy to her aches and pains...

_White Lily Tea._

Not only was it good to the taste, but it was also a great remedy within the Andromeda, Celestria, and Vitruvia galaxies. I started a kettle and let it sit before I went back by her. She was laying down on the sofa now with her hands tucked under her head. She was awake, but I was just happy she stopped crying. She did look like she was in a trance though.

"Toni, is everything alright?"

"Everything is coming back to me now," she moaned.

"What do you remember?"

"I was murdered...violently...in front of my friends and family...at my daughters' christening celebration."

"Who killed you?"

"Vlurgen...my dearest sister-in-law. She killed me to make my husband suffer," she said before she jumped up. "Oh, Rippen, I forgot about him. He's so hurt. I'm so hurt."

"Oh, Toni," I cooed before I went to her side. "Rippen's okay. I promise."

"Yes, but he's hurt. He promised to always protect me and he failed. That's just the point, mother, he failed. He's always been a failure to everyone. He just wanted to do right for once in his life and he failed again. Mama, I want to go back. I need to be with my husband. I love him and I miss him. I need him."

"Sweetie, he didn't fail at all. I know how much that man loves you. He did protect you. Your death was not his fault, you died proudly...defending his honor. Yes, he is hurt and he does miss you...but he knows that his wife willingly died to protect him. At that moment, you protected him. You showed great bravery."

"Wow, you're right. He did try to stop her from hurting me. And I guess I did died defending his honor."

"You both are capable of so much. You both have a great destiny together."

"What do you mean? I'm dead now."

"No, you're just asleep. You aren't a human."

"What do you mean?"

"You and Emmanuel are Elysian angels who were sent down to Earth to protect and guide Rippen."

"Emmanuel? Who's that?"

"Your cousin Larry, of course."

"Really?"

"That's why you're in so much pain, dear. You're being stripped of your human skin...and your angel wings are growing back in."

"What does all of this mean?"

"It means that you will be able to return to Rippen and your daughters when the time is right. You're an immortal being...even the likes of Vlurgen can't harm you for long."

"Oh, mama. That's wonderful news," she chirped before she hugged me. "But perhaps, I have been a bit selfish."

"What ever do you mean?"

"I'm right here with you. I can spend time with you again and I'm so worried about my other family. I missed you so much, mama."

"Oh, I missed you too, Toni. I'm not mad at you for being worried about your family. You're a wife and mother now, that is important to be worried about. You care for and love them so much and I couldn't be prouder. I want to help you go back to them...but until then, you are welcome to stay with me. We have so much to catch up on."

As soon as I told her that, the tea kettle in the kitchen started to steam loudly. So I went to go check on it. 

 

When I came back in with the tea cups and kettle on a tray, I noticed that she was going through some photos that I left on the table behind her. It was the most precious thing that I was allowed to bring to Elysium with me...my pictorial memories of my family. She was going through all of them, but she stopped on one particular one. 

"I guess I always liked Rippen," she giggled before she showed me it. It was a picture of her in Rippen's arms as a newborn, the first time I brought her to Middleburg to see Larry. At the time, Rippen was clean shaven and his hair was a bit shorter...but she looked extremely happy that he was holding her. 

"I think you were just curious when it came to him. You would always cry when he gave you back to me or Larry. You always just liked him," I said before I set the tray down. 

"Well, he is a goblin/demon hybrid. Did you know he has a tail too?"

"No, I had no idea."

"I found out on our wedding night. He was really good at hiding it when we were dating."

"I thought you two were sleeping together too."

"We were...I don't know how he did it."

"Interesting...I guess that's a taboo topic where he's from like how showing your boobs is seen as shameful on Earth." 

"Mama, he's Vitruvian...by the way."

"Oh, I know. Half hellian, half Vitruvian. And from Caluga, right?"

"Right, he was the former prince and short lived emperor. So what is this tea you brought out?"

"Oh, so my daughter married a prince? I had no idea he was royalty. But the tea is White Lily Tea. It's a delicacy in Andromeda, Celestria, and Vitruvia." 

"Okay, and this will help my aches?"

"It should," I insisted before I handed her a filled teacup and picked the other up for me before sitting back down by her.

"Thank you. But mama, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Limbo felt weird to me but I was wondering how it felt to you. I mean it probably felt as weird..."

"Of course limbo was weird. It was strange and really boring. But I think the worst part was knowing that I could never return to you or your father. You're so lucky to have that chance. But tell me, dear, how's your father? I miss him so."

"He's good, mama. He moved to New York after you died. Aunt Zora was the one who raised me. But dad's cool...he's finally starting to get along with Rippen and he loves his granddaughters."

"Well, that's good to hear. I'm glad he's finally becoming accepting of Rippen. He was never really a big fan of him or your cousin Larry."

"Yeah...but what's my real name?"

"Huh?"

"What's my real name? Larry's real name is Emmanuel, what's mine?"

"Oh, your name is Miracle."

"Miracle?"

"Yep, you were created by Lady Michelle and Lord Gabriel from Elysian clouds. They were delighted in you and you brought so much joy to the Elysian souls. However, they decided to sacrifice you once they realized that your father and I couldn't have children," I started before I put my teacup down and touched her face. "Toni, you are destined for such greatness. I know I've always told you that but now I really know the truth. You were an Elysian angel sent down to bless us...to bring us immense joy. I'm so happy to have another moment with you. I've missed you dearly...but your time here is numbered...you have to go back...your new family needs you. Don't give up hope. You will be reunited with Rippen and my grandbabies soon."

"Thank you, mama," she said before she hugged me again. "But I want to enjoy this time with you too now."

"Of course."


	4. Phyllis

_"Um, Phyllis, we have a problem..." Penn moaned._

_"What is problem?"_

_"There was a weird shadowy figure in that dimension...and I don't think it was supposed to be there. It touched Sashi and..."_

_"Shadowy figure? Describe for me."_

_"You weren't watching?" Boone asked._

_"No, I was playing Letters with Friends. Describe what you saw."_

_"Phyllis, it was a black shadowy figure with glowing green eyes," Penn explained._

_"Yeah, that shouldn't be there...but I have no idea what that could be."_

_"Are you sure? You look a little panicked."_

_"This is none of your concern. Just a small anomaly. Now out, out, out. You finished mission and you're in one piece. Congratulation...now bye, bye."_

 

What was I thinking? I should have kept my calm when I was told about this anomaly but I couldn't. The last time something happened like this, I was still an agent for the MPA and that was eons ago. But it didn't make any sense. How could that possibly happen in a balanced multiverse? And something definitely wasn't adding up.

_Well, until I figured out who and what this shadowy figure was._

I played back the footage a couple of times and noticed how the shadowy figure had the form of a woman when it touched Sashi's shoulder and the touch that it used was actually soft and comforting even if it was a touch of death. It shocked me...until I realized who the shadow was.

_Vlurgen._

But how in the world did she do that? She couldn't escape her side of the multiverse...after her hostile coup of Cayuga, the MPA made sure that they had a tight barrier around Earth to protect the refugees and her brother from her wrath again here in Middleburg. So how did she break that barrier? It was supposed to be stronger than her and her black magic. Not to mention, how did she even transport herself to their mission? The only way she could do that is if she had an MUT and a working QPC and the last one in existence was locked up tight by the MPA. It just boggled my mind. 

But little did I know, I was even more oblivious to the damage she caused here...that is until Phil decided to empty out his surprisingly guilty conscience. 

At the time he did so, the one day, I was just giving Karen the Bear a bath and he came barging in flailing his arms going on and on about something. I tried to drown him out until I noticed he wouldn't leave so I decided to take the bait. 

"Ugh, what is it?"

"You didn't hear me?"

"No, I was ignoring you. What are you going on about?"

"It's about Alice."

"What about her?"

"She's dead...Vlurgen killed her."

"What? When did this happen?"

"Two weeks ago...almost...you're invited to the funeral," he said before handing me an invitation. "Larry had them made."

"Is that all your news?"

"No, I might have helped her..."

"Might have?"

"I told her about Alice...she came into shop the other day with some Naaruian girl. I had no idea of her intentions. But now I feel horrible. Rippen's even more insufferable without her."

"Figures. But why not? You know Vlurgen has no good intentions."

"I seemed to have forgotten."

"Well, Alice's blood on your hands...not mine. Hope you're happy now."

"No, I am not."

"Well, you should have thought of that before gossiping away with old friend."

"You're gonna hold me accountable?"

"Yes, as for as I'm concerned, you're an accomplice. Just like you were a hundred years ago and I had to help clean up your mess by relocating thousands of Calugian refugees here."

"I guess I deserve that."

"Yes, yes you do."

"I do have one more piece of information though."

"What?"

"Anastasia is here."

I paused as soon as he said that and dropped the brush I was scrubbing Karen's fur with in the tub. I looked at him in shock. 

"What did you just say?"

"Anastasia lives here...in Middleburg...with boyfriend. I haven't seen her yet...but she is Phoenix and Gryffin's nanny."

"Thank you for telling me," I scoffed before going back to scrub Karen's fur. "Now be gone. I'm very busy."

"Goodbye to you too," he huffed before he left.

 

I couldn't believe that Anastasia was actually living in Middleburg now. Well, it mostly shocked me because her father was so protective of her and wanted her to stay in Russia. But as quiet as it was kept, I did want to see her again. She was so young when we left and we just lost contact with each other. 

I didn't have that much time to ponder that because as soon as I finished bathing Karen, I started getting a signal from my extra MUHU and I had to run to hit it on up the stairs. When I did, I was surprised to see who was trying to get in touch with me.

MPA Co-Directors Adair and Deondra Seville and their adopted half Yaaluian/half Perlandian daughter, Agent Skylar Seville. 

"Oh, I can't believe this old thing still works," Deondra moaned. 

"Well, good thing. Hello, Myrtah," Adair began. 

"Adair, it's Phyllis now. Hey, Auntie Phyllis!"

"Hello, Yaaluian girl Skylar."

"You're just as charming as I remember," she giggled. 

"What's with odd call?"

"We wanted to check on your mission in Middleburg. Is everything on the up and up over there?" Adair asked. 

"Of course," I said lying through my teeth. 

"And keeping the multiverse in balance?" Deondra asked. 

"That's going extremely well. I have great part-time heroes, you know."

"Yes, we are familiar with your three new recruits...our records indicate that your new sidekick recruit is the former princess of Caluga, Xiomara Viore Foster..." Adair droned. 

"Yes, name is Sashi Kobayashi here."

"Correct. How has her performance been so far?" 

"She's good at job, Adair. What's with all the questions?"

"We just had a bit of a scare on our end. Our surveillance shows that there was an anomaly on their last mission...a big anomaly. Our sources also indicate that a foreign evil matter has infiltrated that exact safe space we made over 100 years ago. Are you aware of that, Phyllis?"

"I am now. Mortice is to blame there."

"I see he hasn't changed in 100 years," Deondra moaned. 

"Nevermind that, are you aware of the damage that was cause under your radar?"

"I am now."

"Myrtah, look, I'm just gonna be forward with you. The reason why we let you leave your safe space was because we thought that you were gonna help keep the multiverse in balance. Deondra and I...and our agents can only do so much. We allowed you to move to Earth for that reason. We expected that you would excel...I mean you were doing so well...until now..."

"The only reason I left Russia was to protect multiverse and oversee Middleburg. I called myself helping. I'm not gonna be penalized for a mistake Mortice made."

"Myrtah, we're not penalizing you. Adair and I weren't even aware of Vlurgen's breakout either."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I never wanted him to be that hard on you. We're really just saying to be on the lookout. Vlurgen could be anywhere."

"Noted. I'll be on lookout."

"Good. Take care, Phyllis," Adair moaned. "The balance of the multiverse is in your hands."

"I know, Adair," I remarked before he hung up.

 

I slumped into my chair after he hung up. But I figured that he would be calling me to scold me, it's not like Adair went out of his way to check on me. I was always rebellious against him and he hated that. That's why I was glad to be my own boss...working for the MPA was just too annoying and tedious to me. I could never do anything I thought was right...it was always Adair's way or no way. Although, it was nice to see Skylar again. She had grown so much since I found her in the rubble of Yaalu after the civil war that broke out once the Perlandian refugees moved in. But I did wonder where Jewel was...

My thought process was interrupted though, because all of a sudden; the floors started to shake, the walls started oozing blood, and my chair flipped over. I slowly got up and noticed my MUT controls were crackling and popping with energy surges appearing, which made my security drones malfunction. Next thing I knew, Derrick came from the basement to check on me and Karen. Speaking of which, even Karen was scared...she was huddled up in the corner of the theater with her paws over her face. 

"What's going on?" Derrick asked. 

"I not know," I quickly said. 

"My circuits feel weird..." he moaned before he shut off. The lights started to flicker soon after before a black shadow cloud came into view. It was coming from the closed MUT portal before it disappeared...then it reappeared behind me. 

"Boo!" she teased. I turned around to face her looking very unamused. Her shadow started to take her humanoid form right before my eyes before her laughter filled the room. 

"Vlurgen," I moaned. 

"Hello, Myrtah, wow...that meat sack is not treating you well. You've looked better...but I guess you are still short and fat."

"Hello, Vlurgen. I see you're still ugly and green."

"Oh, I miss our banter. You were a very formidable foe...the only agent worth my evil time in the MPA. How's going rogue...or were you fired?"

"I left on my own accord. It was gonna fine until you almost jeopardized last mission and hurt one of my part timers."

"Oh, is the whole multiverse on your shoulders? You're the one that left your safe space to become the protector of such. Don't whine. Besides, my brother needs all the help he can get. He can't win missions on his own."

"Fair point, but you still hurt one of my part timers."

"That part timer is my precious daughter. But I guess I should thank you for looking out for her...even if you stripping her of her evil destiny."

"Xiomara deserves more than you. Now go back to which ye came." 

"Oh, Myrtah, you're not the boss of me. I'm about to make Middleburg my bitch now. And all it took was a little manipulation."

"How did you break the barrier?!"

"I told you...manipulation. But the rest is for me to know and for you to never find out."

"Why did you even come here? To taunt me?"

"Oh, it's because I missed you...you and Mortice. It's nice to know that he hasn't changed. He's still a loyal little puppet. That's why I was able to kill Alice."

"You will never win, Vlurgen. Alice is more powerful than you think."

"Alice was a normal human woman. She was weak just like her kind. Humans are the worst...they're weak and hurt there own. They're very easy to manipulate too."

"Although I agree with most of that, humans are not as bad as you."

"You're only saying that because you have a human daughter now. I do know about Anastasia. Being around these humans has softened you." 

"At least I have a heart."

"And that makes you weak. Well, it was fun catching up...but I have more chaos to ensue."

"Stay away from Sashi!"

"Oh. Myrtah, nothing can keep me away from my daughter ever again. She will be brought back home..." she taunted before she disappeared.


End file.
